Wire conveyer belt



1933- I. H. HARTER WIRE CONVEYER BELT Filed April 18 MN @N \N MN Patented Dec. 5,1933

WIRE CONVEYEE BELT v Ira 'H. Harter, Grays :Lake Ill. l Application A ril is, 1922] Sean No. 606,002 1 17'Claims.- (or-198 193) The invention relates in general to conveyer belts with more particular reference toa .wire conveyer belt of specially formed sections. which interlink .with'each other ina novel manner, giving to the belt anumber of desired characteristics. y 7 Y An object of the invention is. to .providea wire conveyer which can be made of anywidth; desired and which will consist of sections, each section bein'gcomposed of twos'trands of wire having interlinking engagementuwitheach other and with adjacent sections whereby a length of con veyercan be joined, forming an:endless belt,

- pended hereto. a

Another object is the provision of a wire conveyer having a thickness-equal approximately to twice the thickness of the wire from which it is fabricated and which will be ,constructed .of

transverse strands interlinked in 'amanner whereby the conveyer may be bent in one direce tion at approximately an angle of ninety degrees. In addition to maintainingthe thickness .ofthe present form of:conve yer-to not "more than'twice thatgof theywirefrornwhich itis formed ,one

surface of the conveyer isxalso substantially flat.

presenting a=fairly even area for supporting objects thereon; This latter feature-isespecially desired in conveyer belts and in orderto render the belts satisfactory for certain uses azsubstantially flat upper surfacecombined with extreme flexibility. so as to passv over a right'angled edge is :a prerequisite.

The present type V oflwire conveyer fulfills the above conditions andz'others in an eflicient'manner,'although of relatively simple construction,

presenting, however,'a strong; and durable conveyer adaptable to many uses. i t With these and various other objectsin view,

the invention may consist of certain novel features or" construction and operation,":as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out inthe vspecification drawing and claims rap 'In lthe drawing,.which illustrates an embodi' ment of the device and wherein like reference 7 characters are used to designate like parts- A Figure 1 is a plan "view ,of a portion of wire conveyer, the same being constructed \inwac- P FmF -W the rs i invent m; I

Figure 2 is a plan view-of one of thesections oi the wire conveyer showing more clearly the particular formation of the wire strands;

'. Figure 3 is asectional view taken online 3-3 of Figure 1; f j V Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing the'mannerfof interlinking two sections of the conveyer,.and v Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective viewof a section ofthe present conveyer to clearly illustrate the peculiar formation of the wire strands and the manner in which they interlink with one another;' I Referring-to 'the drawing which shows apreferred embodiment, a wire -conveyer is disclosed consisting of transverse wire strands 10a, 11a,

10b, 1119, etc., the strands 10 being of similarformation', while strands 11 are likewise of similar acteristics but not in fundamental principle with strands l0. Thefwire strands 10a, 11a and 10b,

11b, etc., are, pivotally connected at each end by means of closed loops 12 and 13 formed'at the' terminals of the strands l'oand 11, respectively;

Intermediate the closed loop portions'at the'ends of each strand arestraight portions connected by open loops, the strand 10 having portions 14 formation, although differing in certain ,charand 15 alternating and being connected by loops designated in their entirety by 16, 17, etc., Figure 'l,'the straight portions of onestrand engaging with the open loops ofadjacent interlinking strands as will be more fully explained. Strand 11, considered from either end, is formed first with a loop 18 connecting-with a straight portion 15 of a length substantially equal to the portion similarly identified in strand 10. Open loop 19 joins with portion 14-of slightly greater length.

;The present conveyer is formed of sections which can berreadily interlinked with or detached from other sections so as to vary the length of the conveyer to suit conditions. In Figure 2 a section is shown as including an upper strand 10 and a lower strand ,ll pivotally connected at their ends by means of. the closed loops l2 and 13 as described. More particularly considering the strand 10, it will be seen that the straight 'isa straight portion l d-connected withleg 23 by a single right angled bend 25,;a bend of similar character being duplicated at theother end 7 of 15. Thesecondopen loop l'l formed in strand as to face each other.

10, considered from either end of the strand, is substantially the same as the loop described having downwardly extending leg portions, being connected by the rounded cusp, in this instance identified by 26. Connecting with this second loop is a straight portion 14 which forms with the leg of the same a compound right angled bend similar to 21. the fact that the portions 14 are of slightly greater length than portions 15 which alternate with the former throughout the length of the strand, locating the open loops at definite intervals.

The lower strand 11, considered from either.

end, is formed with an open loop 18, Figure 1, having leg portions connected by a cusp 2"! and a second loop 19 also consisting of leg portions connected by'a cusp 28, the loops being joined by 15 connecting with the inner legs by a single right angled bend 30. Continuing from the second loop 19 it will be seen, Figure 5, that the straight portion 14 connects therewith by a compound right angled bend 31, providing a seat for engagement with the cusp 24 of strand 10. Portion 14 is. of greater length than 15 on strand 10 located directly above and terminates in a bend identical with 31. The next open loop formed in this strand is similar in all respects having cusp 27 as described with reference to loop 18. Any further description or" the formation of the various strands would be a repetition of that already given so attention will be directed to their peculiar curvature which permits interlinking of the strands.

In Figure 5 the two strands above described, forming a section of the present conveyer, are shown in perspective in order to more clearly illustrate the angularity of the various open loops formed in the strands. Strand 10 first provides a seat 21 for'engagernent with a co-operating loop and to the other end of the straight portion 14 provides another seat 21 and an open loop, the cusp 24 of which is bent at an angle to a plane passing through the various straight portions 14 and 15 ofthe strands. The second loop 17 formed in strand 10 connects with loop 16 by portion 15 and has its cusp 26 bent so as to lie in a plane at an angle to that passing through the straight portions and which is also in opposition to the angularity of the first loop so that these loops in effect face each other. The remainder of the strand is of similar formation having portions 14 providing seats as described, alternating with pairs of loops angularly bent so Strand 11 is formed so as to locate a pair of loops, namely, 18 and 19, substantially within the portion 14 of strand 10.

The loops are angularly bent with cusp 27 lying in a plane to accommodate a seat 21 of the strand 10b to be interlink d therewith, Figure 1. In like manner cusp 28 is bent to engage a seat 21 of the strand locating portion 14 on the upper side of the inner legs of the loop. The same constructional feature is repeated as will be apparent from Figure 5, which clearly illustrates the manner in which cusps 24 and 26 of strand 10 having the angular portions described engage the seats formed on 14 of strand 11. The portion 14 is likewise located over the inner legs of the loop.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present conveyer consists of sections of two strands pivotally linked at their ends and each having special formation which permits the strands to be interlinked with each other and Mention is again made of the same plane.

the sections with adjacent sections in a like manner. In Figure 4 is shown the method of linking the sections together. Beginning with either end the sections are interlinked by inserting successively the straight portion 15 and the inner legs of the loops connecting therewith within and under the wider straight portions 14 of the adjacent strand. This brings the seats 21 on portion 14 over the inner legs of the loops having cusps 2'7 and 28 which when the strands are finally interlinked have engagement therewith.

A feature of the invention which results from the above form of interlock is the flexibility of the conveyer enabling it to bend in one direction approximately ninety degrees. This is desirable as it enables a conveyer of the present construction to pass over sharp edges so that one endless belt may be associated with another in a manner to continuethe movements of the articles conveyed thereby without dife ficulty. As illustrated in Figure 2 various strands will have movement on their adjacent strand downwardly away from the planeof the drawing. This caneasily be explained since in every instance the straight portions 14 are located over the inner legs with the compound right angled bends 21 and 31 passing through the various loops. No interference is presented to pivotal movement of the strand on its adjacent strand when the same is rotated downwardly away from the plane of the drawing, but reverse movement upwardly from a fiat position is prevented by engagement of the legs of the loops with the rounded cusp portions of the supporting loops.

Figure 3 represents a sectional view of the conveyer and illustrates clearlythe substantial-- ly flat upper surface of the same which is formed to a great extent by the straight portions 14 and 15 of the various strands, which portions lie in The curvature given the loops and the bends therein including. the seats 21 and 31 are designed so as to be located on the undersurface forming depressions only on the upper surface whereby the upper surface is formed substantially by the straight portions;

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention or the scope of the claims. i

I claim:

1. A flexible conveyer composed of .a plurality of relatively separable interlinking sections each of which comprises a pair of transverse strands connected attheir ends, each of said strands having alternate straight portions and looped portions, the looped portions connecting with the straightportions of adjacent strands to interlink the strands.

2. A flexible conveyer composed of a plurality of sections each of which comprises a pair of transverse strands, means. formed on the ends of the strands for pivotally connecting two strands to form a section said strands having a formation permitting one to interlink with the other and a section to interlink with adjacent sections, said sections being separable from adjacent interlinked sections. V

3. A conveyer of the'class described, incombination, a plurality of interlinked sections, each section including a formed strand inter linking with and being connected at its ends to each section including a transverse strand of wire providing a plurality of open loops connected at its ends to another strand of wire of substantially similar shape, said loops of one strand engaging seats formed on connected strands whereby the strands are interlinked and the sections are interlinked.

5. A conveyer of the class described, in combination, a plurality of interlinked sections, each section including a pair of strands, closed loops formed on the ends of the strands for pivotally connecting the pair together, and open loops formed in each strand for interlinking with its connected strand and a strand of the adjacent section respectively. V r

6. A flexible wire conveyer composed of a plurality of interlinking sections each of which comprises a pair of wire strands, closed loops formed on theends of the strands for connecting'them together in pairs, each strand having alternate straight portions and open loops, whereby the loops have engagement with the straight portions of adjacent strands to interlink the strands. I V

7. A flexible wire conveyer composed of a plurality of interlinking sections each of which comprises a pair of wire strands, closed loops formed on the ends of the strands for connect ing them together in pairs, each strand having alternate straight portions and open loops, seats provided on certain. straight portions for engaging with the loops of an adjacent strand to interlink the strands.

8. A flexible wire conveyer composed of a plurality of interlinking sections each of which comprises a pair of wire strands, closed loops formed on the, ends of' the strands for connect- I ing them together in pairs, each strand having alternate straight portions and open loops, seats provided on certain straight portions for engaging with the loops of an adjacent strand to interlink the strands, said loops being bent at I an angle to a plane passing through the portions, whereby the strands have pivoted movement in one direction on their interlinked strands.

9. A flexible wire conveyer composed of a plurality of interlinking sections each of which complane passing through the portions, the plane of.

adjacent loops of any strand being non-parallel, whereby the strands may interlink and pivotal movement between interlinked strands is possible inonly one direction.

10; A. flexible wire conveyer composed of a plu-' rality of interlinking sections each of which comprises a pair of wire strands, closed loops formed on the ends of-the strands for connecting them together in pairs, each strand having alternate straight portions and open loops, seats provided on certain straight portions for engaging with the loops of an adjacentstrand to interlink the strands, said loops being bent at an angle to a plane passing through the portions, the plane of adjacent loops of any strand intersecting while the plane of alternate loops are substantially parallel, whereby the strands may interlink and pivotal movement between interlinked strands is possible'in only one direction. 1

11. A flexible wireconveyer composed of a plurality of interlinking sections each of which corn-- prises a pair of wire strands, closed loops formed on the ends of the strands for connecting them together in pairs, each strand having straight portions separated by open loops, adjacent straight portions beingof different lengths and alternate straight portions being of the same. length, and said strands interlinking by the loops of one strand engaging seats formed on a straight portion of the interlinked strand.

. 12. A wire conveyer belt composed of aplurality of interlinked sections, each section including a formed strand interlinking with and being connected at its ends to another strand of dissimilar formation, said sections being joined'by infirality or" wire strands, each strand having alternating straight portions and loops, and each strand interlinking with adjacent strands bythe straight portions engaging with loops of one ad-r jacent strand and by the loops engaging with the straight portions of the other adjacent strands.

14. A flexible wirefabric composed of a plurality of transverse wire strands, certain of the strands being pivotally'connected at their ends, each strand being formed with spaced loops of substantially U-shape and each strand interlinking with' adjacent strands by a portion of the adjacent strand passing through each loop thereof.

15. A flexible Wire fabric composed of a plurality of transverse wire strands, certain of the strands being pivotally connected at their ends, and each strand interlinking with adjacent strands at points intermediate their ends, certain interlinked strands being separable and said interlinking portions and pivotally connected ends producing a fabric having a maximum thickness substantially twice that of the wire of which the strands are formed.

16. A flexible wire fabric composed of a plus rality of transverse wire strands, certain of the v strands being pivotally connected at their ends, and each strand interlinking with adjacent strands at points intermediate their ends, certain interlinked strands being separable, and said fabric being characterized by the ability of the interlinked strands to pivot to one another substantially ninety degrees in one direction and to wavy contour. I

, IRA H. I- IARTER. 

